Wedding Weekends

So the past 2 weekends, we have gone to weddings.  (Casey was beyond thrilled and excited let me tell you.)  Acutally, while he loves his friends and wants to be there on their special days, I think he just didn't like the getting dressed up and wearing a tie part.  The first wedding was in town and it was a friend from his church growing up that Casey and his family knew.  The bride was from Romania, so the ceremony was spoken in Romanian and it was an Orthodox ceremony.  While I had never been to an Orthodox wedding or one that was in Romanian, it was a lovely ceremony and interesting to see the customs of another culture and religion.  We also got to spend the evening with Casey's mom, his brother David and his wife Taci, so that was nice to combine some family time with the wedding.  Casey wanted to leave before they cut the cake, but I really wanted some cake.  It's one of my many favorite parts of a wedding, but I compromised and told him if I could have a cupcake/cake coupon for another time, then we could leave right then.  We left right then, and I still have not redeemed my coupon:(
     I can say with 0% doubt that my favorite role in a wedding is the guest.  After being in several weddings and planning my own, I seriously love being a guest! I loved being in the weddings I have been in and was honored to do so, but after planning my own wedding, I have truly come to appreciate the role of the wedding guest.  Here are some reasons why:

• You don't have to get there until about 15ish minutes before the ceremony starts.
• Getting ready is way easier and faster.
• You can leave whenever you want and don't have to stay till the bride/groom leaves to help clean up. (which also means you don't have to deal with a cranky husband who wants to leave as soon as the I do's are said!)
• You don't have to write thank you notes.
• You don't have to worry about any wedding stresses like rsvp's, flowers, caterers, dress, etc.

     This past weekend the wedding was in Victoria for a couple of friends that we were blessed to meet at church and then moved back to the Corpus Christi area.  I should have read the invitation more closely and refreshed myself on the geography of Texas better because I thought Corpus Christi and Victoria were closer than 2 hours apart and also that Victoria is only 2.5 hours from Houston.  Casey's youngest brother is living the life of luxury in a condo right on the beach there and was nice enought to let us stay with him.  Originally I thought Victoria and Corpus were closer, so we would get there Friday and leave Sunday, but once I looked up everything on google maps, I realized we would be doing way too much driving back and forth if we did that.  We hated to tell his brother we weren't coming since he was nice enough to open his house and not make other plans and we also wanted to spend some time with his brother since we don't get to see him as often.  The happy compromise we came to was to go down to Corpus Christi Friday night, stay with Joel, drive from there to Victoria and go to wedding, and then head home to Houston late Saturday night.  And by late, I think we got home about 12:30 in the morning.  The wedding was lovely despite the downpour that came that day.  It paused long enough for Kevin and Elizabeth to say their I do's, so all was well.  Casey and I got to spend some time with Joel fishing and watching football, so all in all it was a wonderful trip!  I am thankful to be done going out of town for awhile though.
  This past Friday marked 5 months of marriage for Casey and I.  I know everyone says that time flies, but it really does!!  I would say the first month went by more slowly, but after that it picked up and seems like the next time I blink, another month has gone by.  I'll leave you with some pixs from the weddings we went to.

"Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another" John 13:34